Herman Cain accuser forced to deny she came forward to make money

The woman who was allegedly groped by Herman Cain has been forced to deny that
she came forward to make money, after it emerged that she and her British
fiancé had faced a string of financial problems.

Sharon Bialek, who claims that the Republican presidential hopeful stuck his hand up her skirt in July 1997, has twice filed for bankruptcy and recently faced demands for thousands of dollars in unpaid tax.

Her fiancé Mark Harwood, who is from England, had the $1.2 million (£747,000) house near Chicago, Illinois, that he shared with his ex-wife repossessed after apparently failing to repay the mortgage.

The disclosures came as yet another woman alleged inappropriate behaviour by Mr Cain, whose campaign for the Republican presidential candidacy has been under siege for the past 10 days.

The married grandfather and pizza restaurant tycoon was poised on Tuesday night to finally address the allegations from four women "head on" at a press conference. "There is not an ounce of truth to all these allegations," he told a television talk show beforehand.

Miss Bialek, 50, on Tuesday rejected accusations that she may have exaggerated her account of an alleged assault by Mr Cain in order to make money from lucrative television or magazine deals.

She claimed Mr Cain, 65, tried to grab her crotch and pushed her head to his lap when the pair met to discuss her career prospects after she was fired by the National Restaurant Association, which he led.

Mr Cain's campaign stridently attacked Miss Bialek's credibility, distributing an email titled "Who Is Sharon Bialek?" in which they contrasted Mr Cain's record with the "far different path" they said she had taken.

"Miss Bialek has had a long and troubled history, from the courts to personal finances – which may help explain why she has come forward 14 years after an alleged incident with Mr Cain, powered by celebrity attorney and long term Democrat donor Gloria Allred," it said.

The suggestion was repeated by several pundits. Dick Morris, a former aide to President Bill Clinton, said: "This is obviously a copycat that's just trying to cash in ... I look forward to her spread in Playboy." Miss Bialek and Miss Allred deny that they are seeking any money from her story.

"I was not paid to come forward, nor was I promised any employment," Miss Bialek told a television interview. Mr Harwood told local reporters: "She is a good woman with a very big heart. She just tried to do the right thing".

Records show that Miss Bialek, a former marketing executive and cookery television show host, filed for personal bankruptcy in 1991 in 2001, when she declared $36,000 (£22,375) in liabilities.

She has also been pursued for alleged unpaid taxes totalling about $10,000 (£6,200) by federal authorities in the past two years.

Miss Bialek and her 13-year-old son now live with Mr Harwood, 49, in a $564,000 (£350,571) five-bedroom house in a Chicago suburb, which appears to be rented.

Mr Harwood, who is currently out of work, claims to have run multi-million dollar health care companies in the US before the home he shared with his wife Patricia was reclaimed by lenders.

His page on LinkedIn, a business networking site, states that he received a degree in English, Maths and Physics from Oxford College of Technology and Engineering in 1982.

A former employee at the US Agency for International Development, who once hired Mr Cain to give a speech, said on Tuesday that he asked her to help him arrange a dinner date with an audience member.

Donna Donella, 40, said Mr Cain asked her: "Could you put me in touch with that lovely young lady who asked the question, so I can give her a more thorough answer over dinner?" after the 2002 event.

One of the two women believed to have received a payout from the National Restaurant Association after making allegations against Mr Cain was named yesterday by a US news website.

The woman, a 55-year-old US government spokesman, was described as reliable and a "good person" by friends and relatives, who insisted that she would not have lied about his behaviour.